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Weight loss: Better to cut calories or exercise more?
By Mayo Clinic staffOriginal Article: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/AN01619
- With Mayo Clinic preventive medicine specialist
Donald Hensrud, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Donald Hensrud, M.D.
Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.
Dr. Donald D. Hensrud is chair of the Division of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine with a joint appointment in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, & Nutrition at Mayo Clinic. He is an associate professor of preventive medicine and nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Hensrud directed the Executive Health Program at Mayo Clinic for more than 10 years.
He received his B.S. from the University of North Dakota, M.D. from the University of Hawaii, M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota and M.S. in nutrition sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in preventive medicine at Mayo Clinic and completed a clinical nutrition fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Hensrud is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Preventive Medicine and the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists, of which he is a past president.
His career interests have combined nutrition, weight management, and prevention. He is the author of many scientific articles and book chapters and was editor of Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody; The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook, which won a 2005 James Beard Foundation award; The Mayo Clinic Plan: 10 Essential Steps to a Better Body & Healthier Life; and The Mayo Clinic Diet, published in January 2010.
Dr. Hensrud says healthy lifestyle habits in diet and physical activity are extremely important as evidenced by a large body of scientific evidence. He also says implementing these lifestyle habits is realistic, sustainable and enjoyable. A primary goal of his work is to help people achieve this.
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Question
Weight loss: Better to cut calories or exercise more?
Which is better for weight loss — cutting calories or increasing exercise?
Answer
from Donald Hensrud, M.D.
Cutting calories through dietary changes seems to promote weight loss more effectively than does exercise and physical activity. But physical activity also is important in weight control.
The key to weight loss is burning more calories than you consume. Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. So if you cut 500 calories from your diet each day, you'd lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).
For most people, it's probably too difficult to eliminate the amount of calories through exercise that you could through dieting. That's why cutting calories through dieting is generally more effective for weight loss. But doing both — cutting calories and exercising — can help give you the weight-loss edge. Exercise can help burn off even more calories than just dieting.
Exercise also is important because it can help you maintain your weight loss. Studies show that people who lose weight and keep it off over the long term get regular physical activity. If you lose weight by crash dieting or by drastically restricting yourself to 400 to 800 calories a day, you're more likely to regain weight quickly, often within six months after you stop dieting. Getting regular exercise also can help prevent excess weight gain in the first place.
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- Kushner RF. Obesity management. Gastroenterology Clinics of North America. 2007;36:191.
- Nader N, et al. Obesity. In: Bope ET, et al. Conn's Current Therapy 2011. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier. 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/117958748-3/0/1621/295.html#4-u1.0-B978-1. Accessed May 16, 2011.
- Pinto AM, et al. Successful weight-loss maintenance in relation to method of weight loss. Obesity. 2008;16:2456.
- Redman LM, et al. Effect of calorie restriction with or without exercise on body composition and fat distribution. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2007;92:865.
- Weight loss for life. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/PDFs/WeightLossforLife_04.pdf. Accessed May 16, 2011.
- Hensrud DD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 17, 2011.
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